'Every part of town was hit.'

RANKIN INLET – A string of break-and-enter robberies in Rankin Inlet left some residents pledging vigilante action and has the hamlet pushing for a $100,000 surveillance system.

RCMP report a total of 37 break-ins for the months of September and October. That's a rate many times higher than normal, said Sgt. Peter Pilgrim.

"What we were finding was businesses with a window open just an inch were being pried open," he said. "Every part of town was hit."

"The damage to the buildings and doors was in the thousands [of dollars], tens of thousands probably."

Thieves struck homes and businesses alike, smashing windows, and prying or kicking in doors to gain access. Once inside, they'd search for cash, carvings and liquor: anything valuable and small enough to be carried off.

Paul Waye, the hamlet's senior administrative officer, said he knows of one case where thieves broke into a house, found an ivory ring sitting next to a laptop computer, took the ring and left the laptop.

Waye said the occasional break-in isn't unusual in Rankin Inlet, but "this exploded into a rash of three or four a night sometimes."

Some residents got so angry at the seemingly endless plague of robberies they pledged to take action against the culprits themselves, forcing RCMP to warn against vigilantism and call for cooler heads to prevail.

Pilgrim said RCMP told the would-be vigilantes to "let the police handle it" because they didn't want to arrest people for assaults or other crimes against the alleged perpetrators.

"Everybody was just tired and frustrated," he said.

Last month, police arrested two young offenders in connection with five robberies. While they are still investigating the other crimes, Pilgrim and Waye both said the number of break-ins appear have tapered off.

The two youth, who can't be named, are to appear in court in Rankin Inlet Dec. 1.

Still, Waye said he wants to install a closed-circuit television system with cameras pointed at offices and businesses that are at a high risk for break-ins.

The hamlet has been awaiting word for nine months from Economic Development and Transportation for funding on a proposed $100,000 project, which would see wireless video cameras attached to telephone poles.

But Pilgrim said tips from people in the community are what allowed police to make the arrests.